Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Strippin' for the Donors (Guardian)
About 20 years ago, a buddy of mine talked me into going to a strip club. I don't like strip clubs. The hustle's too crude. Still, I am always a good friend so, even though I hadn't been to a strip club in a decade, I went. It was a "gentlemen's club," so they ran us through a metal detector at the door and they robbed me for a $5 "cover charge."
Christina Patterson: Now it's the middle class's turn to feel the employment earthquake (Guardian)
The brave new digital world is supposed to set us free. But if work is 'shared', not paid, who pays the bills?
Harriet Walker: The #aftersex selfie is a betrayal of intimacy (Guardian)
We've become desensitised to sex but sharing a picture of you and your partner after the act takes over-sharing to a new level.
Belinda Webb: Emma Watson's makeup tweets highlight the commodification of beauty (Guardian)
The fashion, film, beauty and music industries now just feed off one another, with female insecurities a powerful fuel.
Susanna Rustin, "Jo Nesbø interview: 'The thing about Scandinavia is that we take things for granted. Things can change very fast'" (Guardian)
Norway's best-selling writer on why in the 'happy valley' of one of the richest countries in Europe, nothing - even a Russian invasion - is unthinkable.
Stephen King: How I wrote Carrie (Guardian)
The author describes the inspirations for his first novel, and how the horror landmark - 40 years old this week - was very nearly destroyed.
Jason Farago: "George W Bush's portraits of world leaders: art that tells us nothing at all" (Guardian)
Presidential library in Dallas exhibits two dozen paintings that are vacant, stubborn and servile - precisely what Bush intended.
Lucy Mangan: Doctor, trust me, you don't want my opinion (Guardian)
I made a decision early on that no one of my pessimistic inclinations should allow herself to mix health concerns with the unfiltered returns of a Google search.
Pat Carnell, Evan V. Symon: "The 5 Biggest Disasters in the History of Marketing (Pt. 4)" (Cracked)
At the 2012 Olympics, South African runner Oscar Pistorius inspired the whole world by becoming the first double amputee in Olympic history to compete. … Pistorius managed to join the elite few athletes who were good enough to become spokesmen for Nike. A shoe company. Even though, you know, he doesn't wear shoes (on account of having nowhere to put them). But there was a bigger problem Nike failed to take into account -- Pistorius was as crazy as a shithouse rat.
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wrote:
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took time out from his birthday celebration to respond:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Team Coco
CONAN360°
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
So - to let you know what's going on, the guestbook on bartcop.com is
still open for those who want to write something in memory of Bart.
I did an interview on Netroots Radio about Bart's passing
( www.stitcher.com/s?eid=32893545 )
The most active open discussion is on Bart's Facebook page.
( www.facebook.com/bartcop )
You can listen to Bart's theme song here
or here.
( www.bartcop.com/blizing-saddles.mp3 )
( youtu.be/MySGAaB0A9k )
We have opened up the radio show archives which are now free. Listen to
all you want.
( bartcop.com/members )
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Thanks, Marc!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Growing Ambitions Spook 51 Percent Of Americans
Internets
The personal data gathering abilities of Google, Facebook and other tech companies has sparked growing unease among Americans, with a majority worried that Internet companies are encroaching too much upon their lives, a new poll showed.
Google and Facebook generally topped lists of Americans' concerns about the ability to track physical locations and monitor spending habits and personal communications, according to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos from March 11 to March 26.
The survey highlights a growing ambivalence towards Internet companies whose popular online services, such as social networking, e-commerce and search, have blossomed into some of the world's largest businesses.
But their grand ambitions are inciting concern, according to the poll of nearly 5,000 Americans. Of 4,781 respondents, 51 percent replied "yes" when asked if those three companies, plus Apple, Microsoft and Twitter, were pushing too far and expanding into too many areas of people's lives.
This poll measures accuracy using a credibility interval and is accurate to plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.
Internets
Disney's Stealthy $300 Million Franchise
Tinker Bell
On a windy Saturday afternoon in March, Christina Hendricks, draped in a cashmere-wool, coral-colored coat, walked a red carpet at a premiere in Los Angeles. She wasn't promoting the final season of Mad Men but rather her role in a far more valuable yet mostly undercover franchise: Disney's Tinker Bell animated film series. Hendricks voices the new fairy Zarina in the latest installment, The Pirate Fairy, a Peter Pan prequel that was released April 1 in the U.S. on DVD.
Those who aren't parents of young girls probably have never heard of the Tinker Bell movies. But the first four titles -- Tinker Bell (2008), Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009), Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (2010) and Secret of the Wings (2012) -- each were made for $30 million to $35 million and together have grossed $225 million in U.S. DVD sales, a pirate's booty in a struggling home video economy that has caused many big studios to abandon direct-to-DVD. Overseas, especially in Europe and Latin America, the films play in theaters, bringing their total DVD-plus-theatrical gross to north of $335 million worldwide for DisneyToon Studios. Pirate Fairy, already playing in international theaters, is on course to match the $60 million in box office that Wings made in 2012.
The popularity of the spunky Tinker Bell, part of the Disney Fairies empire that includes merchandising (more than 7 million fairy dolls have been sold), books and magazines, likely helped lay the groundwork for the $1 billion showing of Frozen, the top-grossing animated film of all time.
Tinker Bell
Not Full Of Gay Nannies
Sweden
In Stockholm, men and their babies dominate the cityscape: strolling down sidewalks with take-out coffee in hand, tilting strollers onto buses, pushing swing sets, and doling out snacks.
As a non-Swede, unaccustomed to the generous Nordic paternity leave of two months or more, I've looked on with a degree of envy. My daughter, born in Mexico, got two days with her father before he had to return to work. Other foreigners visiting Sweden have apparently been so surprised they've failed to wrap their heads around it at all.
One Swedish technology executive who I interviewed for an upcoming magazine story on the "Nordic model" said a confused American colleague turned to him on a visit to the Swedish capital and asked, "What's up with all the gay nannies?"
The question definitely earns its place in the annals of cultural assumptions and misunderstandings. But he's not alone. The "Swedish gay nanny" theme (accompanied with the hashtag #ignorantAmericans) has made an appearance on Twitter. For Americans, who have some of the paltriest parental policies on the planet, it is apparently more logical that nannies - gay at that - would flock to northern Europe than that fathers doing what they are biologically intended to do: care for their young children.
"I think it says a lot more about Americans than it does Swedes," says Richard Hall, a young Swede holding his 13-month-old daughter Martha in one hand, a coffee in the other, at a funky cafe in central Stockholm. He's in the third month of the six-month leave he's taken from his job as a development officer with the Swedish Air Force.
Sweden
Milwaukee Group Wants To Buy
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Long before it was known for fine cheddar cheese or the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin was famous for beer, especially the national brands brewed in Milwaukee: Schlitz, Blatz and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The brewing tradition started by Milwaukee's German immigrants in the 1800s endured for more than a century, until industry consolidation in the 1980s and '90s began sending familiar brands to other companies and cities.
Now a small group of Milwaukee residents wants to revive part of that proud history by buying Pabst Brewing Co. from a California executive in hopes of returning the brand to its birthplace, possibly as a city-owned brewery.
The effort appears to be a distant long shot, requiring hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire the 170-year-old beer best known as PBR. But Milwaukee officials like the idea enough to talk about it, and at least one industry analyst says the plan is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Jury Deliberates
George Wallace
A Nevada jury was asked Friday to award comedian George Wallace at least $7.1 million for earnings he claims he lost as a result of a leg injury he said he received while performing in December 2007 at a posh Las Vegas Strip resort.
Wallace's attorney, Dominic Gentile, left open the amount the jury could award for pain and suffering. Gentile earlier said he expected to seek at least $9 million from the Bellagio Las Vegas hotel-casino.
"It's in your hands now," Gentile said to jurors to end closing arguments and a two-week civil negligence trial in Clark County District Court.
The jury of seven men and one woman deliberated for about an hour before breaking for the weekend. They'll resume Monday morning.
George Wallace
Idaho School Censors
Sherman Alexie
The largest school district in Idaho has banned from its curriculum an award-winning book about the struggles of a Native American teenager after complaints by parents that the novel was rife with profanity, racial epithets and anti-Christian rhetoric.
The school board in Meridian, Idaho, voted 2-1 this week to keep the book, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," off a supplemental reading list for 10th graders, meaning it will not be part of the curriculum at the high school, said school board clerk Trish Duncan.
The 2007 Sherman Alexie novel, which won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, is still available in the school's library, she said.
Gretchen Caserotti, director of public libraries in Meridian, spoke in favor of not placing restrictions on that or other books during a recent public meeting about the Alexie novel.
Sherman Alexie
How Low Can They Go?
Georgia
A Republican running in Georgia's seven-way Senate primary released Friday an ad featuring a fake phone call from President Barack Obama.
Rep. Jack Kingston, an 11-term member of the U.S. House seeking to replace retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, includes audio of an Obama impersonator asking Kingston to stop trying to repeal the president's signature national health care law. The ad comes as polls show a close race ahead of the May 20 primary.
"Kingston, this is the president. You've got to back off Obamacare," the fake Obama says in the ad while black-and-white photos of the president appear on the screen.
"Kingston, let me be clear: I do not want you in the Senate. Call me back, Kingston, please," the fake Obama adds.
Kingston then appears on screen in color. "A call to stop fighting Obamacare is one call I'll never answer," he says into the camera.
Georgia
Record Seismic Activity
Oklahoma
Earthquakes rattled residents in Oklahoma on Saturday, the latest in a series that have put the state on track for record quake activity this year, which some seismologists say may be tied to oil and gas exploration.
One earthquake recorded at 3.8 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey rocked houses in several communities around central Oklahoma at 7:42 a.m. local time. Another about two hours earlier in the same part of the state, north of Oklahoma City, was recorded at 2.9 magnitude, USGS said.
Those two were preceded by two more, at 2.6 magnitude, and 2.5 magnitude, that also rolled the landscape in central Oklahoma early Saturday morning. A 3.0 magnitude tremor struck late Friday night in that area as well, following a 3.4 magnitude hit Friday afternoon.
Oklahoma recorded 278 earthquakes from 2008 through 2013 that have registered on the Richter scale at a magnitude of 3.0 or greater, a level that can shake objects inside a home.
Before that, from 1975-2008, the state on average recorded less than six earthquakes a year.
Oklahoma
Religious Insanity
LEGOs
A Roman Catholic priest has touched off a controversy in Poland after news media quoted him describing toys like LEGO's Monster Fighters as tools of Satan that lead children to the "dark side."
The Super Express tabloid quoted the Rev. Slawomir Kostrzewa urging parents to dump the LEGO series as well as Mattel's Monster High. The remarks at a Sunday service in the town of Wolsztyn touched off discussion in predominantly Catholic Poland, which holds priests in high esteem.
Mainstream newspapers seized on the report, as did state radio. Parents took to Twitter to mock Kostrzewa.
It is not Kostrzewa's first crusade. He has in the past campaigned against Sanrio's Hello Kitty, arguing that it promoted the pornography industry and the sexualizing of young girls.
LEGOs
'Human Skin' Book
Harvard
A 17th century book owned by Harvard Law School, thought to have been bound in human skin because of an inscription that referred to a man "flayed alive," has been shown through scientific testing to have been bound in sheepskin.
The binding material of the Spanish law book published in 1605-1606 was determined after an analysis of nine samples of its front and back covers, binding and glue, Karen Beck, a rare books curator at Harvard Law School Library, said on Friday.
The Harvard conservation scientist who conducted the testing used a technique for identifying proteins called peptide mass fingerprinting to differentiate the samples from other parchment sources such as cattle, deer, goat and human skin, Beck wrote in a post on the Harvard Law School Library blog. The glue was found to consist of cattle and pig collagen.
Curators, dermatologists and others had studied the book for years because of a suggestive inscription on its last page that reads:
"The bynding of this booke is all that remains of my dear friende Jonas Wright, who was flayed alive by the Wavuma on the Fourth Day of August, 1632. King Mbesa did give me the book, it being one of poore Jonas chiefe possessions, together with ample of his skin to bynd it. Requiescat in pace."
Harvard
Falling Meteoroid
Anders Helstrup
A meteoroid streaking through the sky is always a spectacular sight, and it's rare to capture one on video. Yet, according to a story on Norway's NRK.no, skydiver Anders Helstrup managed to do the next-to-impossible: he caught one on video in broad daylight, after it had burned out.
When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it's travelling so fast that it compresses the air in front of it, heating the air until it glows in the bright streak of light that we call a meteor. The friction with the atmosphere causes the meteoroid to slow down, so that it eventually enters its 'dark flight' - the point where it's still falling through the sky, but it's not moving fast enough to produce the meteor trail. Essentially, it just becomes a rock that's free-falling towards the ground.
This is apparently what Helstrup encountered back on June 17, 2012, when he went skydiving with the Oslo Parachute Club near Østre Æra Airport, in southeastern Norway. The video below, from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation , tells the story (with subtitles). Pay particular attention when the video reaches 1 minute 54 seconds.
While it's natural to think that this was something else, and even Helstrup himself was fairly skeptical of the meteoroid explanation at first, geologist Hans Amundsen, from the Natural History Museum in Oslo, is sure that this rock originated from space.
Anders Helstrup
In Memory
Paul Salamunovich
Paul Salamunovich, longtime director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale who helped score movies including "The Godfather," has died. He was 86.
The chorale's publicist, Libby Huebner, says the Grammy-nominated conductor died Thursday of complications related to West Nile virus.
The New York Times declared the chorus one of America's top vocal ensembles during his final season.
Salamunovich also helped score and sing on soundtracks for numerous films, including "The Godfather," "How the West was Won" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence."
He was choral music director at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood for 60 years until retiring in 2009.
Salamunovich taught music at several colleges, including the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.
Paul Salamunovich
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